Counting Down
by Jalyss
Summary: He had seven days to convince her. And, as usual, nothing ever really goes as expected. [SasuHina]
1. The Beginning

_So I started this when I really should be updating Tempest of War... but I couldn't resist! SasuHina is just so adorable! __Anyway, this idea has probably been done before... I thought I'd attempt to write an 8-9 chapter fic and finish it. __Come to think of it... the last time I watched/read Naruto was about... 5-6 years ago, and I stopped just before Shippuden. So, if characters are OoC, my apologies. _

_I have this habit of re-reading a document like 20 times before I even think about posting it... Even so, I have too many errors still in it. Anyone interested in being my beta-reader for this story (and possibly any other future SasuHina stuff), please PM me.  
_

_Thank you, thelast-lullaby (tumblr). Hopefully I finish this fic xD_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, obviously._

* * *

Things were _not_ going as planned. He would ask, she'd blush and eventually stutter out a yes, and the whole thing would be resolved in less than 5 minutes.

Come on, _every_ girl in the school liked him, so she'd be no exception, right?

"I beg your pardon?" the pretty Hyuuga asked, all her previous puzzlement/curiosity/embarrassment replaced by blatant distrust.

The change in expression was enough to alert him that something was wrong. Nevertheless, he repeated himself, hands in pockets, trying to look as nonchalant about the whole thing as possible (because he sure as hell wasn't _nervous_; he was an Uchiha for god's sake). "Go out with me."

She stared at him for a while before turning her attention to the surroundings, her lavender eyes darting back and forth. They were outside, surrounded by greenery (bushes, trees, flowers, your typical mother nature with birds singing in the background and all that showed the beginning of summer break was freaking cliché), the school building behind her. She appeared to be looking for something, ignoring him.

His eyes narrowed. "Didn't you hear me the second time?" he asked rather impatiently. Did she not know it took almost every scrap of his pride to stand here and basically confess to her? And she had the audacity to ignore him!

She turned her pale gaze back to him. "I heard you perfectly fine. I was just looking for your friends. You _do_ realise who you're talking to, right?" She calmly smoothed out the wrinkles in her white blouse. She wasn't blushing or stuttering, which was not a good sign… In fact, she looked calm and composed, every bit the powerful heiress (which was something he was unused to seeing, not that it was a bad thing per se).

The raven-haired male frowned slightly. If it weren't for the fact that he knew she was shy and modest (normally, honest to god), he would have been offended at her question. "Of course I do. And why?"

She shot him a look of muted disbelief mixed with mild offence as she stopped brushing (imaginary) dust off her navy pleated skirt (her uniform was impeccably neat so it must have been imaginary). "Do you really think I'm that stupid? Just because I'm at the bottom of the social ladder doesn't mean I'm that daft. Your friends are probably all hiding around here somewhere watching this."

Safe to say, this was one of the few times that the onyx-eyed male was speechless and confused. "What are you talking about?"

"You can stop acting so surprised. I understand the situation perfectly. You ask me out. I say yes. Your friends come out when I leave and you lot discuss how pathetic I am for accepting and how you'll stand me up later today for the 'date' because it would have to be today." Both her hands were held up to do the 'quotation mark' thing at the word 'date'. "And then tomorrow, word will spread around that I was so full of myself if I ever believed for one second that Uchiha Sasuke would go on a date with me. Then the whole school will laugh at me and make my last day here miserable." Her voice was quiet, without a trace of emotion, as if she were stating facts. She readjusted the school's sling bag on her shoulder, making sure to avoid his gaze.

He stared at her. "So… you think this is some kind of joke?"

She paused and looked up at him. Lavender eyes narrowed imperceptibly (only he would notice because he… well he just did) and she wrung her hands in exasperation. "Of course it is! It's either a practical joke or some stupid dare, or bet! Why would you, who is ever so popular, with a choice of pretty much any girl in the school, the captain of the basketball team, the student body president, the valedictorian of our year, the co-heir to the Uchiha Corp., the list goes on and on, ever want to even be _around_ a social reject, boring, and ugly girl like me, let alone go on a _date_? It's laughable. This has to be a joke. Isn't it enough that your friends already torment me and now you have to join in? I just want the last two days to be quiet and uneventful, okay? Please find someone else to make fun of."

Before he could form a coherent reply, she'd bowed politely and walked off.

What the hell?

* * *

"Dobe, do you know a Hyuuga Hinata?"

Uzumaki Naruto looked at him, his face scrunched up as he tried to rack his brains. The navy blue uniform hung off his frame messily (it was a wonder he hadn't been reprimanded yet as half the day had gone by already). "Hyuuga Hinata… Oh! The girl with the weird eyes and she always sits in the back corner in chemistry class by herself? Why?"

Obsidian orbs narrowed. Her eyes were not weird! They were pretty, in a lavender-tinted-m-oh-god-he-needed-to-stop-and-could-that-sound-any-cornier kind of way. "What do you know about her?"

"Well… Isn't she the Hyuuga heiress? Err… she hardly ever speaks. I don't think she has any friends, but… I dunno… she's kind of weird, but really nice! Probably why Karin and Suigetsu pick on her. I try to stop them when I see them, but you know they don't listen to me." He made a face. "I never understood how you're friends with them. Why d'ya ask?"

Right now, he wasn't so sure either. "Oh, is that so?" He should've known better than to think _Naruto_ would bully someone. Suigetsu and Karin on the other hand… They were definitely the types to do so. No wonder his secret (super secret) crush was so distrustful of him/them. Wait, how long had _that_ been going on for? He had to go find his two _'friends'_. But first he had to avoid answering Naruto's 'why'.

"Hey, Uzumaki! Fix your uniform!" Iruka yelled down the hallway.

It was about time one of the teachers caught the azure-eyed male.

"Crap! Iruka-sensei! Seeya later, teme!" Naruto ran off before Iruka could make it over.

"Uzumaki, get back here right now!"

Perfect timing.

He walked off to find his two friends and was bombarded by girls from all the year levels (good thing the school was only year 10 to 12), who asked him about his day and complimented him on his looks/grades/whatever, and asked questions about his personal life (he had enough of being asked on dates). He ignored them like usual, none of which seemed to get the hint (at times like this he missed having Hinata's cousin around to divert the attention, _just a tiny bit_ mind you; Neji could be such an ass. Too bad he'd graduated the previous year). Where was Karin when you needed her?

There! Red hair and white hair! "Oi, Suigetsu, Karin," he called out.

The red-head turned around and squealed. "Sasuke-kun!" She ran over, pushing the other girls out of the way. She (threw herself at him) hugged him. "I missed you so much! Did you miss me?" She shot him a dreamy smile before turning to glare at the other girls, who were glaring back. "Get lost, you bitches."

None of them wanted to get into a fight with Karin (who had no qualms about hospitalising people, and how was she not expelled already?), so they left grudgingly, muttering some choice words under their breath.

"Get off me." He pushed the persistent girl off him. He changed his mind; maybe the fangirls would be better company. And for crying out loud, why couldn't she just get together with Suigetsu?

Karin sulked, but complied with his wishes.

"What do you need, Sasuke?" Suigetsu asked, coming over (of course when the mob was gone).

Now, how could he phrase it without being completely obvious?

"Stop bullying Hinata."

Like that wasn't completely obvious.

Karin stared at him. "You… _Hyuuga_?! Why?! She practically _begs_ to be bullied. Have you not seen her? Some heiress _she_ is. She's such a loser, so plain and geeky-"

"Shut up." His expression read 'keep-speaking-and-I-will-seriously-harm-you'.

Now both his friends stared at him in absolute shock. Man, he really sucked at these sorts of things (and people wondered why he never expressed himself).

The white-haired male blinked. "Are… are you… _defending_ her? You're not serious? Very funny!" Suigetsu began laughing as if Sasuke had said the funniest thing in the world. "She's so pathetic. I mean, come on, I heard her younger sister may end up being the heiress at the rate she's going."

"What part of 'shut up' do you not understand, Suigetsu?" His glare was so chilling that the two of them could only stare at him in disbelief. "Now, how long has this been going on for?"

Suigetsu blinked. "Uhh… since orientation day?"

That was the _first_ day of year 10. Hell! Karin and Suigetsu were popular and had a rather cruel streak running through them. No wonder Hinata had been so ostracised by the rest of the school populace; nobody wanted to get on the bad side of the pair.

"You two had better not bother her any more or else." His tone was cold. He walked away from their shocked expressions, not waiting for any replies. He'd deal with them later. Now he had to deal with his 'girl-problems'. That was going to be harder to deal with than the psychotic pair. How was he supposed to convince her that he really _did_ care for her?

He blamed Suigetsu and Karin completely, well, mostly. Not like he wasn't a _little_ bit responsible as he had never even interacted with her before (but he couldn't suddenly show favoritism to one girl or she'd be ripped apart by his freaking fan club) the rather sudden 'confession'. Still, he didn't have any experience in this area (even though hundreds of people would disagree). Up until now he had merely ignored females as they were loud, annoying, and quite frankly, a nuisance.

It was Hinata who caught his attention, Hinata who was so very different from the other females. She was graceful, intelligent, kind, be-

He almost slammed his head against a nearby wall (almost, as he couldn't be seen doing such an un-Uchiha-like gesture).

Things would be so much easier if he didn't have to feel these… well… feelings.

No wonder why Itachi never bothered to have a girlfriend. Maybe it would have been easier if he hadn't done anything about it. Too late now. He mentally berated himself once again. He had only needed to keep his mouth shut for another day and none of this would have happened! He'd already kept silent for 2 years, so what was one more day? One day too many, it seemed.

Apparently his brain liked to screw him over on a regular basis (Naruto would not lay off that _one_ time that the blond was, unfortunately for him, a witness to; though, he did have a thousand things he could say in retaliation about his best friend…), and he'd gotten himself in this predicament.

From that one conversation with her (unfortunately his first ever conversation with her and from the looks of it, possibly his _last_ ever conversation with her), he could tell her impression of him was… well it wasn't good. At all. So, he had to convince her that this wasn't some sort of bet/practical joke, improve her impression of him, and then get her to date him (hopefully). That was going to be difficult since she was not like any of the other girls. He'd have to explain that the whole thing _wasn't_ a practical joke at her expense, or a bet to see if she'd go out with him (or fall for him, stupid teenage guys giving the decent ones a bad reputation).Then, go on to explain Suigetsu and Karin's antics and how they were _not_ related to him in any way, shape, or form. Finally, he'd proceed to 'woo' her. Of course, this all hinged on the fact that she would listen to him in the first place... He hoped her kindness extended to things like this.

This would surely be difficult, but he was an Uchiha. He'd take on the challenge.

* * *

He caught her by her arm at the end of the day as both were leaving the school grounds, and dragged her quickly behind some trees to avoid anyone seeing them together (curse his deranged fan club who were already shouting frantically for him; he would transfer them all over to Naruto in a heartbeat if it were possible, or Suigetsu. He didn't really care at this point).

"I- wait… Uchiha-san?" She stared at him, nervousness creeping into her eyes. "Umm…" Her eyes darted around wildly, looking for some excuse to get away from him (or maybe looking for his 'friends' once again?). She feebly tugged on her arm, trying to free her wrist from his grasp (what happened to the confidence she had earlier? It was attrac– no, brain, don't go there).

That was a blow to his ego.

"Look at me," he said authoritatively in an attempt to get her to stop focusing her attention on anything _but_ him. He was pleased to see her eyes snap back to meet his, her movements stopping. Now that he had her full attention, he was at a loss. All previous plans of what he was going to say to her had flown out the window. He continued to stare at her, noting her increasing discomfort at the prolonged silence.

"Umm… Uchiha-san, w-what… w-w-what d-do you w-want?"She bit her bottom lip, her eyes sliding to the left and right, and then meeting his once again.

He sighed. She was terribly uncomfortable with him and he could tell this was going to be rather difficult, and maybe awkward as hell. "I… it wasn't… I meant… it was…" He inwardly cursed at his inability to verbally express himself. She was incredibly clueless; he had a feeling he'd have to work on the verbal communication with her a lot, at least initially. Might as well start off slow. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you."

Hinata nodded slowly, though the mild panic in her eyes remained. She opened her mouth as if to ask something, only to abruptly shut it a moment later when she realised she was going to speak.

An awkward silence followed while he waited for her to spit out whatever it was she was going to say. When she started to avert his gaze again by looking at everything but him, he figured she wasn't going to say anything. What was his plan again? Oh, right, convince her that this wasn't some stupid bet or practical joke. "Hinata." Noting her obvious flinch at his use of her first name, he quickly corrected himself. "Hyuuga." Damn, that sounded so weird since he was used to addressing Neji in that manner. "The whole thing this morning wasn't some sort of bet, dare, practical joke, or whatever. I was being serious."

She nodded once again. At least she was listening to him, though he could tell she still didn't believe his words.

"Karin and Suigetsu are complete asses. I wasn't even aware of their behaviour towards you until the dobe told me at lunch today." He winced inwardly when he saw genuine surprise flicker across her pearl orbs. So she really did think he was an asshole. Upsetting, but nothing he couldn't rectify, right? He'd be _nicer_ this time around. "So… will you go out with me?"

The female Hyuuga stared at him, all traces of nerves gone. For the most part, Hinata was just in complete shock and confused as hell. _The_ Uchiha Sasuke was interested in _her_? Did hell freeze over? Did pigs start flying? When did that all happen and what the heck was she _doing_ as it was happening? Worse yet, was this some sort of perverse daydream? _Because_ _this was not funny_. Maybe she shouldn't have taken the new cold medication and just stuck with Panadol. With her free hand, she pinched herself discreetly and winced at the pain. Nope, not a daydream. At least that was one thing to be thankful for, that she was _not_ going crazy. But that would mean he was telling the truth, and that was something that was still mildly horrifying (mildly, mind you; it was, on the other hand, incredibly flattering).

_He could still be lying._ A small part of her spoke up. _But what would be the point? I mean… tomorrow is the last day of school. After that, we'll all be heading in different directions. _The nice part of her tried to rationalise the situation. _No, there could still be something in it for him to get the only girl in the whole school that wasn't head-over-heels in love with him to, well, fall in love with him_. The pessimistic side of her appeared once more. She frowned. What was she supposed to believe? All she knew about him was that he was incredibly rich, insanely (and I mean _**insanely**_) popular, and arrogant to a T. That and he was overall not a very nice person (at least from what she could tell through observing fellow classmates interact with him). He was also the boy's basketball captain, a position her cousin had held the previous year before he had graduated. He was exceptionally good at the sport (she'd watched some games because of her cousin's involvement), and heard a few compliments about the stoic Uchiha from Neji (and Neji was not one to give out praise). Maybe she would talk to her cousin about this whole ordeal and pray he would not freak out. _**Maybe**_**.**

"W-w-why?" The question came out before she could properly screen her thoughts.

He cocked his head to the side slightly, pausing for a moment as if deciding how to phrase his explanation. He couldn't think of a roundabout way to explain his feelings, so he opted for being direct. "Because I… like you." The last part came out muffled.

She was mortified and doubtful at his admission (and also flattered?). There was absolutely _**no**_ way Uchiha Sasuke just said he liked her. No way! She was seriously going insane; maybe she didn't pinch herself hard enough (she pinched herself again, this time causing her to visibly wince in pain; nope, not hallucinating). Maybe it really was the new meds she'd taken. Oh god, she was definitely going to buy some Panadol the minute she was free of him... "Y-you… w-wha-what?"

The Uchiha sighed (though it was amusing to see her pinch herself). "I. Like. You."

Now she was just shocked and confused as hell. She didn't hear incorrectly the first time around (though part of her kind of wished she had if only to avoid the awkwardness of the whole situation and his obsessive fangirls). So, the question was, what would she do?

She was still incredibly unconvinced at his confession, but she would give him the benefit of the doubt for now (in terms of the bet/deal/dare thing, because she still didn't believe he actually had any feelings towards her) since this was happening all too quickly for her. She needed some time to think about this, scratch that, a _lot_ of time, time which she didn't have. Besides, even if this was a horrible joke on her part, she'd still feel bad if she treated him poorly. Maybe she could ask to be friends first? "U-u-uchiha-s-san…" Hinata was incredibly nervous since he hadn't taken his eyes off her since he'd asked. "I-I d-d-don't umm… know y-you, s-s-so I c-can't accept your p-proposal." She was looking at anything but him at this point, her nerves were everywhere. She took a deep breath and attempted to keep her stutters to a minimum. "B-but, I would l-like it if we c-could p-perhaps get to know each other f-first?"

Sasuke blinked. He was preparing himself for a rejection after her first sentence, so he was glad to see he could have a chance at this. "Fine," he replied since, if he nodded, she wouldn't see it.

"S-seven d-d-days," Hinata blurted out suddenly, then looked slightly horrified at the statement. "Umm… I mean… h-how about seven d-days to umm… get t-to know each other…? S-starting t-t-tomor-row… And th-then aft-ter… W-we'll s-s-see…"

Seven days. He could do this. "I assume you'll let me know at the end of the seventh day?"

She nodded, her eyes on the floor between them.

"Seven days, starting tomorrow," he agreed. He'd give her the rest of today to let this whole thing sink in. He released her and she quickly hugged herself.

"Yeah…. umm… I guess… I'll… seeyoutomorrow." The last part came out quickly and quietly.

He would have replied if she hadn't bolted off so quickly. She should really be on the track team if she could run that fast. He watched her dark hair disappear into the crowd.

So he had seven days to persuade her, huh?


	2. Day 1

_Hi everyone~ This will probably be the quickest update for this story since university starts up in a week... I take a week or so to write and another week to proof-read (since I have the incessant need to re-read it over and over and change things). That, and I need to get back to the fighting scene in my other story... This chapter is kind of slow, but it's all gotta start somewhere!  
_

_Thank you Windy120393, Guest, Anon, farahb, 921350, Sheep-san, Lady Whistledown, Fher34, daydreamer102308, exotao, KonnyakuJelly, and aurora0914 for your lovely reviews! Also, thank you to all those that favourited and followed this story. I hope I don't disappoint._

_If you have any constructive criticism, advice, or suggestions, please let me know~ More ideas won't hurt._

* * *

When Hinata woke up on Friday morning, she wondered if all of it was some sort of twisted dream her sub-consciousness somehow came up with (she should really stop drinking coffee before she slept and hopefully the effects of the previous medication had worn off). She hadn't slept well, worrying and over thinking about the events that occurred. She _had_ pinched herself yesterday, twice, but… she was still half hoping this was some kind of delusion and she could finish high school quietly.

"Nee-chan, is something wrong?" Hanabi called through her door as she leaned against the door frame, watching her older sister stare blankly at a wall.

The bluenette quickly jumped out of bed. "No, I just…" She glanced at her alarm clock. "…overslept?! Oh no! I'll be out in a minute! I'm sorry about breakfast." She ran to her wardrobe and pulled out her uniform to change.

"It's alright, I got us covered. Just checking up on you. Good thing you packed our lunch last night." The brunette rolled her eyes. "Come on, you only overslept what… ten minutes? Relax. We've still got plenty of time, half an hour even." Hanabi closed the door so that her elder sister could change in peace.

Within minutes, Hinata had made her way downstairs and into the dining area where she saw Hanabi piling syrup on her plate of waffles. This caused her to raise an eyebrow at her sister. "Waffles?"

The younger girl merely scrunched her eyebrows, tongue sticking out from the corner of her mouth, as she proceeded to get _just_ the right amount of syrup on her breakfast. "Yeah, they were at the bottom of the freezer. I was looking for something that required minimal prep time since, you know, I can't cook, and all I need to do is shove them into the toaster. I don't even remember when we bought these, so I thought we might as well finish them off and – oh shit!" The bottle spluttered, oozing out a large glob of the sticky substance. Hanabi glared at the bottle, affronted. "Stupid thing… Nee-chan, can you take some of the syrup off my waffles?"

She smiled at her sister's antics and shoved her plate next to Hanabi's as she sat down. "Just put the extra syrup on."

Hanabi gladly did so, picking up one of Hinata's waffles and dipping it into the syrup. "By the way, nee-chan, are you feeling okay? Yesterday when you got back you were acting all weird and reclusive. It's the last day of high school for you. You should be jumping for joy." The younger girl returned the waffle to Hinata's place and pushed it so it was sitting in front of her older sister.

"Oh… um… I'm alright," she quickly reassured after the initial falter. She didn't want to worry her sister over her strange, surreal problem (which really seemed like something out of a shoujo manga, oh god).

"Obviously it's something if it affected you that much." Hanabi rolled her eyes, something that only Hyuuga's seemed to be able to tell (their eyes were _not_ creepy, by the way). Hinata could tell since the lighting that reflected off Hanabi's orbs moved in a certain manner. "Come on, you can tell me anything, you know? I'm always here for you. I tell you my problems and you listen, and I just want to return the favour sometimes."

Her little sister sure knew how to guilt trip her. She contemplated the thought of telling Hanabi, and figured she might as well. Hanabi would respect her privacy, even if she really _really_ wanted to tell everyone she knew. Besides, it'd be kind of nice to be able to talk about girly things with her sister (if this even counted as girly). She was an emotional mess when it came to this whole thing, so it'd be a relief to tell Hanabi. Maybe her sister would have some useful advice for her. "Well… alright, as long as you don't tell anyone, not even Neji-niisan."

The younger Hyuuga raised an eyebrow and put her fork down while quickly swallowing her food. "I won't tell anyone. Now spill!"

She could tell that Hanabi was highly interested in what she had to say. After all, she never excluded Neji from anything (good thing he was only coming back on Sunday), so she would have 2 days of drilling the 'tell no-one' point into her sister. "Umm… well… Uchiha-san… he… he asked me out…" She quickly grabbed the glass of water in front of her in order to busy herself, taking two Panadol tablets as she did so.

The brunette's jaw dropped (and thank goodness she wasn't holding anything or that'd be on the floor, _especially_ the syrup covered waffles; she inwardly winced at that thought). Only after a few moments of silence did the younger girl speak. "Uchiha… you mean _**the**_Uchiha Sasuke? From Uchiha Pharmaceutics? The one with the humongous, crazy-ass fanclub that is composed of ninety-nine percent of the school? The same guy that's known as the 'king of all assholes' and 'the iceblock'? The guy that's rumoured to have the hots for Uzumaki? We _are_ talking about the same guy, right? Unless, of course, you mean Uchiha _Itachi_, which would be really weird because that would mean he somehow got your cell phone number or that he was stalking you. And not to mention he's like…"

She choked on the water, and quickly put the glass down as she coughed. Was all of that _really_ necessary? And _where _did Hanabi even _hear_ of all that? True, the junior high school was next to the senior school, but there was a roadbetween the two that separated the buildings. Only now did she remember why she was sort of hesitant to tell Hanabi her predicament yesterday. "People think… he… he's _gay_? And with _Naruto-kun_?_"_

Hanabi looked highly amused. "Oh, Uchiha Sasuke. Well…um, yeah? It's all the girls ever talk about! You know, 'cause he hasn't shown any interest in a single female, so people think his interest lies in the _other _gender. And since he has this weird bromance thing going on with Uzumaki…" The brunette quickly ate another piece of waffle, trying not to snicker at her older sister's 'oh-my-god' expression. Obviously Hinata didn't keep up with the latest gossip. "Well what are you waiting for? I want details! What exactly did he say? Where did he ask you? When did he ask you? And most importantly… _what did __**you **__say?!_"

"Hanabi-chan!" Great, now she was getting flustered. "He… he first asked me… before class started yesterday… outside in one of the clearings…Well… not really asked… more like ordered…" She stared at her waffles for a while, before picking up her knife and fork to cut them into bite-sized pieces. The tapping of Hanabi's foot rushed her thoughts. "And I… I didn't believe him! I mean… he's well… he's… _mean_…"

Hanabi snorted. "_Mean_? That's the best you can come up with? Where do you think the title _king_ of all _assholes_ came from? When I look at him, I could totally imagine him kicking puppies, or, you know, mowing them down with a car. Hell, maybe even a steamroller." The brunette waved her fork, with a piece of waffle at the end wobbling dangerously, around as if to emphasise her point.

She frowned at the mental images Hanabi's description wrought. "Hanabi-chan, either put that fork down or eat what's on it right now. I don't want bits of waffle and syrup all over the place. And I really don't think he'd go around abusing animals…" After her sister complied (by stuffing the food in her mouth), she continued. "Yesterday morning before class started he approached me and umm demanded that I go out with him. And… well… you know he's super popular… and I'm… I just spend all my time at school studying, so why would he even _talk_ to me, let alone demand something like that? I thought it was some sort of practical joke… someone from the 'in' crowd asking me out? So I told him to bother someone else with the joke and umm… walked away?"

"Tch, who needs popularity when you're the heiress to the largest media company in all of Japan? Come on, nee-chan, you're really pretty. Maybe he fell in love with you at first sight. Did you go all regal heiress on his ass?" Upon seeing the bluenette's blush, Hanabi smirked. "Good for you. That'll show him not to mess with a Hyuuga. Bet he was speechless. Neji-niisan would be proud of you, if you ever decide to tell him."

"Hanabi-chan! I-I'm really _not_ that…" She sighed, deciding it was pointless to argue with her sister over trivial things. "I… I _thought_ he wasn't being serious… so I was offended that he thought I was stupid enough to fall for it, then it… it just _happened_. I wasn't intending to be rude and… it was the second last day of school… But he cornered me afterwards… and I just couldn't sum up that courage again. I think I was more scared of what he was going to do to me after I just mouthed off at him earlier in the day…"

"And…?" Hanabi had finished her waffles and was now sitting at the edge of her seat, leaning forward eagerly to hear more. "I'm pretty sure your definition of 'mouthing off' isn't the same as his. You're _way_ too polite."

Hinata poked the few remaining pieces of waffle around on her plate. "He told me it wasn't a practical joke or anything… and then _asked_ me if I would go out with him."

"You're kidding, right? Even after the disaster of the first meeting, he'd still approach you? Is this some male ego thing?"

"Umm… he did mention afterwards that he… he… he… helikedme…" She blushed a bright crimson colour and stuffed some waffles in her mouth.

Good thing the younger Hyuuga was used to deciphering what Hinata mumbled out (and luckily she wasn't ingesting anything at that moment). "WHAT?! Oh my god. I've _got _to tell Neji-niisan." Upon seeing Hinata's eyes full of disapproval snap up to meet hers, Hanabi corrected herself quickly. "I mean, _not_ tell Neji-niisan. Anyway… what did you say? Do you _believe_ him? I mean, that's kind of a big thing…"

"I… I said no… since I didn't know him… And… I'm n-not sure what to believe. To be honest… not really…"

The young brunette burst out laughing. "Oh my god, you rejected _the_ Uchiha Sasuke just because you 'didn't know him' and you're still in one piece. Do you know how many fangirls would _kill_, literally, to be in your position? I'm actually really disappointed now that you made me swear secrecy."

"H-Hanabi-chan!" she scolded softly as she shook her head. "Well I… after I asked if we could get to… know each other first… And umm… he agreed. Then…" She hit her head against the table. "I said I'd give him seven days to get to know him… and after, I'd see…. and he agreed," she mumbled out, feeling more and more doomed.

"You… you rejected him, then gave him a chance? Nee-chan, why?! Sure, he's hot and all, but still! Remember? _'King of assholes'_? '_The iceblock'?_" Hanabi shook her head. "And why on earth did you suggest seven days? Aren't you the one that said 'it takes time to get to know what a person's like'? I was under the impression that it was longer than a week!"

Hinata groaned into the wooden surface, and would have hit her head multiple times against the table surface if Hanabi wasn't around (no need to set a bad example). "Otou-san is coming back from Shanghai in a week… And I was thinking about what otou-san would say if he knew… and I just blurted it out! Seven days! I couldn't explain to him why I just suddenly said that so I just… argh! My brain! Then he agreed! Besides… it's rude and unfair if I don't give him a chance, if he's serious. And if this really is a joke on my part… well, at least I was nice about it…"

The brunette shook her head, trying to look disappointed in her older sister, but failed miserably as the shaking of her shoulders gave her away. Hanabi took both empty plates and cups and stood up, heading into the kitchen to wash up as she needed some time to stop laughing before talking to her sister once more. After cleaning the dishes, Hanabi re-entered the dining room. "You're too nice sometimes, nee-chan. Man, your life sounds like some excerpt of a bad shoujo manga. You know, if Neji-niisan finds out, and you didn't tell him, he's gonna be pissed."

"I know! I've just got to… to take some time to sort this all out!

"Alright, alright… So does that mean you're meeting up with him today after school?"

"...I don't know… I just hope he doesn't interact with me during school hours… or his fanclub will kill me…"

"Then how's this arrangement even going to work if he can't talk to you? It's not like you exchanged contact info."

"… let's just get going…"

"You have to tell me _everything_!"

* * *

His brother was way too perceptive for his own good. How Itachi knew that his sudden improved mood had something to do with a female he'd never know. So, he'd left early in order to avoid Itachi's teasing (while it was good-natured, he didn't want to deal with it when he was trying to think about what to do about the situation). And now, here he was, pacing around the school grounds lost in thought.

The less people that knew about this until the final outcome, the better. Not only for Hinata's safety (coughSuigetsuKarincough), but for his as well (goddamn, Neji), not to mention his friends' reactions should any of them hear about this (especially if she ended up rejecting him). Sakura would grill the Hyuuga heiress for information (and then drag her off somewhere, thus ruining his 7 days with her since Sakura would want to go shopping and all those other things females did with one another). Hell, if Naruto found out sometime today, he'd blurt it out to the whole school. And, knowing the blond, he'd probably raid the office and use the intercom system to announce it! All while fending off the administrative office workers, who would be yelling at him to _get away from the P.A. system_. That's what he got for having a complete dumbass as his best friend.

Since it was the last day of year 12, school 'finished' at 12:30, which allowed students to let each other fill out their yearbooks (he had to make a quick escape before he got trapped in the chaos that normally accompanied yearbook signings). That meant he could meet up with _her_ afterwards to…

To _what_?

What the hell was he supposed to do now?

He certainly wasn't going to take her to a ramen place (Naruto had asked Sakura out on a date to Ichiraku, and you can guess how well _that_ went). Though… Naruto had a decent, general idea (of course ramen was the only thing that was ever on his mind, that and maybe his frog-shaped wallet and its lack of filling. With the amount of ramen Naruto ingested, he wasn't surprised). They would be released around lunch, so maybe he could ask her to meet him at a restaurant or a café? Maybe the café would be a better idea… It was a lot more casual and girls liked that sort of thing, right?

God, how sad was it that he was getting ideas from _Naruto_ out of all people?

Maybe he should've asked Itachi, especially since he already knew something was up (goddamn older sibling intuition, or whatever the hell it was; he denied being easy to read).

Now all he had to do was tell the petite girl the plan for today. He paused. _Wait a second… I don't have any way to contact her…_ He'd have to hang around the entrance so that he could tell her.

It was on his 8th lap around the general vicinity of the front gate when he saw Hinata finally arrive through the entrance (he had made sure to stay hidden in order to avoid his obsessed fangirls; too bad his pleas to god-almighty fell on deaf ears since _none_ of them were madly chasing Naruto _or_ Suigetsu _or Karin or Sakura_, because why the hell not?).

He watched her walk in by herself, her gaze sweeping the area until her pale eyes landed on his half-hidden form. He jerked his head in a motion that indicated that he wanted to talk to her (he had no interpersonal skills, remember?). At least she seemed to understand the language that is 'stoic-bastard' (Neji probably contributed majorly to that), so she slowly approached him.

"Umm… g-good morning… Uchiha-san…" Her voice was quiet amongst the morning ruckus of the way-too-loud students of the school (it was 8:30; people should not be squealing at irritating pitches and running down people so they could scream 'shut up' to each other in close proximity nor should they be yelling out some sort of unintelligible teenage slang that was usually accompanied by some sort of weird hand ritual).

His automatic response was to give the usual, monosyllabic sound, but he stopped himself. "…morning…" he muttered out instead. "Akatsuki Café at one." Yup, definitely needed to work on communication here. Ordering her to do something was certainly _not_ the way to her heart.

She squeaked and nodded her head quickly. "Umm… c-could you n-n-not umm… t-talk to m-me on school g-grounds?" She eyes kept darting over to the groups of girls that were prowling the school for him. "P-please," she added in hurriedly.

Was she asking that because of his fangirls or because she really didn't want to be around him? He hoped it was the former. "Fine."

She let out a small sigh of relief. "Th-thank you… umm… I should g-get to homeroom now…b-bye…" The bluenette darted off quickly, again not giving him enough time to reply before she was out of sight.

_Maybe it was the latter…?_

* * *

"Teme! You're coming along with me and Sakura-chan to Ichiraku's, right? You know, to celebrate the last day of high school. Iruka-sensei's treat!" Naruto asked while scribbling something long and unreadable in Sasuke's yearbook. The blond had snatched it away from him the minute the bell signalled the end of their high school lives and proceeded to fill it with chicken scratch and poorly drawn figures of what he assumed were the three of them, plus ramen, he couldn't forget the ramen.

Before he could answer, Karin had burst through the door squealing his name while dragging along a very bored looking Suigetsu.

"Hey, Sasuke," Suigetsu said, his expression remained unchanged. "Tell this bitch to release me."

Karin's attention immediately focussed on her companion. "What did you say, you asshole?"

He ignored their bickering since it occurred often enough, and nobody in the classroom was fazed by it. He figured that all the arguing the pair did was the basis of their relationship, whatever that relationship was. To him, they had this love- hate thing going on (though he was sure that if he brought it up with either of them, Karin would vehemently deny it all and Suigetsu would look absolutely appalled).

"What are you two doing here?"

Karin perked up at the question, abruptly stopping her argument with Suigetsu, whom she released. "Sasuke-kun! Can I sign your yearbook? You can sign mine!" She held the black, hard-cover book out in front of her.

As soon as she uttered her request, all the fangirls in the room jumped at the chance to crowd him and ask him the same thing. Soon enough, he was surrounded by annoying girls trying to shove their yearbook in front of him to take and asking to have his yearbook. At least Naruto had taken his yearbook earlier... So fangirls wouldn't be able to steal it off him now. While the loss of the book wasn't a big deal to him, the fact that they could worship it in a shrine dedicated to him was unnerving at best, and was why he'd rather keep the stupid thing.

Even if he did manage to lose the yearbook he had in his hands, it was Naruto's, so fangirls would be writing stupid things in his best friend's book, which would be funny (but knowing Naruto, the blond would read all the creepy comments to him, out loud, in a public place). Plus, he kind of owed it to Naruto to write _something _in it.

But he couldn't write anything with his fangirls surrounding him. "Karin, get them _away_ from me."

The red-head beamed at him. "Of course, Sasuke-kun!" She then proceeded to threaten the lot of them. The collective group had backed off somewhat as none of them had forgotten what Karin had done back in year 10 to that one particularly persistent fangirl that had been stalking him all over the city, or the group of girls that had harassed him at every lunch hour last year, or the girls that… well… you get the idea. While they were all wary, they didn't back down, arguing back with equal ferocity.

He uncapped the black fine-liner and opened his best friend's yearbook to the inside of the front cover.

_Dobe_, he wrote in the top left corner, _I don't know __**how**__ you made it into university, but I guess I'm stuck with you for another 4 years._ He completed it with his signature. Nobody said it had to be a meaningful or long.

He capped the pen and chucked it back inside his bag. Then, he closed the book and slipped it on the desk in front of the blond who was _still_ writing a message and how the hell was he writing so much? He was already three-quarters of the way down the second page of the inside of the front cover, drawing something that vaguely resembled a basketball court (or so he thought). Whatever, the more Naruto wrote, the less _others_ could put anything in, if they managed to get a hold of his yearbook.

While this yearbook tradition may be nice for everyone else, Sasuke did not really see much that he wanted to remember about high school. If it wasn't class lessons, homework, or tests, it was council work, basketball practice, and dealing with fangirls. He had been plagued by fangirls his whole school life and he was pretty sure that would continue all the way through university (if Itachi was any indication).

"Hey, teme!" Naruto shoved his yearbook back at him, the pages opened to the blond's long-ass message. Naruto spotted his own yearbook, closed, in front of him. "Oh, you're done already? Guess I gotta find Sakura-chan and ask her to write something in it!"

"Sure, whatever, dobe." He glanced at the clock that hung above the whiteboard at the front of the classroom. 12:46. He should get going if he wanted to make it there a couple of minutes early. He grabbed his yearbook and stood up.

Karin had turned around, her attention now on him. "Sasuke-kun, are you leaving now?"

"Hn." What did it look like?

"But, but… you need to sign my yearbook!" She looked slightly panicked. "And Suigetsu's!" she blurted out. "And you need to come to with me to that restaurant I was talking about yesterday for lunch!"

"Oi! What about going to lunch with me and Sakura-chan? And Iruka-sensei'll be there too! Come on, teme!" Naruto looked over at him with pleading eyes. "It'll be fun, I promise!"

"What? Since when?" The snow-haired male shot Karin a look before turning his attention to Sasuke. "Look, man, I really don't care…"

Before Suigetsu could continue, his fangirl mob pounced, blocking his exit as they frantically attempted the same crap from before. Except now there were more of them as they had come from the other classrooms.

_The hell?! _He glanced at the fangirl mob in front of him and the clock on the wall. _Oh shit…_

* * *

It was freaking _1:37_ by the time he managed to escape the goddamn school from all the goddamn people that wouldn't goddamn leave him alone. He was very late already and wondered if she'd even still be at the café. He wouldn't blame her if she had already left. Come to think of it… didn't she mention something about agreeing to go on a date and then getting stood up, hence why she believed this whole thing was a 'practical joke'?

_**Fuck!**_

He _had_ to get there. And if she wasn't there, he had to find a way to contact her and tell her about what had happened. He raced through the streets, weaving in and out of the crowd.

He slowed as he approached the quaint little café with a black signboard on the sidewalk advertising their 'great' coffee with a really lame pun (he was pretty sure it couldn't have been any lamer). Sasuke glanced through the shop window and to his surprise (and immense relief), Hinata was sitting at a small table in the corner, sipping what appeared to be the last of a mixed berry smoothie (? he wasn't too sure about that; not that it mattered at the moment). The bluenette closed her book and fumbled with her school bag.

She was going to leave! He'd better make an entrance and stop staring at her from the outside like some sort of _stalker_ (which he wasn't, for future reference).

So he entered the shop and immediately walked over to her table. Moonstone orbs met his as they stared at each other in silence. He recognised surprise and resignation flicker across before she covered her reactions up and looked away from him, her attention on something out the window.

"I-it's one forty-five," she stated, her bag slung over her shoulder. She was making no effort to walk out of the store, nor was she sitting back down at the table.

"I know… it was… it's just… fangirls," he explained, and winced. That sounded like a dodgy answer. "Also, Naruto, Sakura, Karin, and Suigetsu… Yearbooks… and some sort of celebratory crap they wanted to do. I only managed to get away from them all about ten minutes ago." Not that blaming his friends for his absence was really making this situation any better. Even to him, his explanation sounded half-assed.

She seemed to understand the disjointed shit he'd spewed out as she had cast him a doubtful look before sitting back down at the table, bag in lap.

Relieved, Sasuke sat in the seat opposite her and shoved his bag under the table. Almost immediately, a slim, dark-haired waitress had walked over, asking the pair what they would like to order. She cast a flirty wink in his direction, causing him to scowl at her. Biting back a rude retort, he ordered something quickly while Hinata quietly (and calmly) chose something with some sort of fancy name.

"…sorry…"

Hinata's gaze shifted from the window to him, her eyes reflecting surprise at his apology. "I-it's… f-f-fine…" she mumbled, turning her attention to the ornate wooden table between them. "I-I n-need to l-leave in an hour or s-so…"

"Okay." Awkward… God, _Itachi_ wouldn't have this problem (that is, if he ever got himself into this predicament). Why the hell was he having so much difficulty just _talking_ to her?

"How's your cousin?"

She looked startled. "Oh, umm… Neji-niisan… he's umm… fine. Umm… he d-did very well in his first year of business law… He'll be b-back on Sunday night, if you want to c-catch up…?"

Catch up? With Neji? They were… friends of sorts, he supposed. The elder Hyuuga was a sensible, no nonsense kind of guy, which was probably why they got along. Though… 'catching up' with Neji, especially since he was now 'pursuing' Hinata, would certainly not be the definition of _fun_. Neji was fiercely over-protective of his two female cousins, particularly Hinata (since Hanabi, from what he'd heard, was a little spitfire as her namesake implied).

"He was p-pleased to know you g-guys won the championships again this y-year…" she blurted out, poking her index fingers together. It was one of her cu… _habits_ when she was nervous.

"Hn." Well, he would have to talk to Neji _eventually_ about this. "I'll text him or something." As much as he wanted to ask if she'd told her cousin about, well, _this_, he decided against it. It was probably not a good idea to bring up their 'relationship'.

Hinata tentatively met his gaze, though every so often, she glanced around. She took a deep breath. "Umm… are you g-going to K-konoha U as well? If you're n-not…"

He waved a hand to cut her off. "I am. Same degree as Hyu- your cousin." He leaned back in the chair, crossing his arms in front of him. "I suppose you're doing business management?"

She shrugged and averted her gaze. "My father wants me t-to." A few minutes of silence ensued before she spoke again. "I guess…" she sighed. "I suppose I'll s-see you at uni…"

"…right…"

They both lapsed into silence. Awkward silence. He was looking around the café, but his eyes kept wandering back to the female sitting in front of him. _Of course it's going to be awkward, but you have to start __**somewhere**_.

The pretty waitress walked over and set down the food and drinks easily, while balancing another tray on her arm. "Your orders." She shot him yet another wink before facing Hinata. He had no idea what the waitress said/did, but she managed to make the female Hyuuga turn bright red and quickly look down at her lap. Laughing, the waitress waved her free hand. "Enjoy!" she said as she walked off to another table.

He watched the bluenette, curious to know what the waitress had said to make her turn such a shade. He decided not to push it though. Better play it safe for now.

They both dug into their food, and he was left wondering if he should bring up another topic or let her do so? He could tell that she was still stiff, so maybe he'd wait. After all, both of them were quiet, reserved people.

Sasuke was about three-quarters of his way through his meal when Hinata spoke again. He looked up at her, noting, to his surprise, that she was almost done her pie/tart/quiche/whatever-the-heck-that-was.

"I-I hope this isn't t-too rude b-but… why…?" She had glanced up at him before quickly looking back down at her food. "…why…me…?"

Why – the million dollar question. He didn't answer immediately. There were plenty of reasons why he liked her. Her certainly wasn't going to list them all (that was _**so**_ un-Uchiha-like), nor was he going to give the generic answer of 'I just do' (even if it was true).

After he finished his food, he placed the cutlery on the empty plate in front of him. "… your honesty." He hoped that would make things a bit better.

He saw her twitch, and her head turned from the window to face him. Her eyes were full of surprise for a few long moments before they slowly softened in understanding and acceptance. She gave him a shy smile, which in turn surprised him (though he didn't show it).

_She's even prettier when sh-_

He shoved that thought out of his mind. Uchiha's didn't think of sappy things. It seemed like he gave a 'good' answer (and one he didn't have to explain) since the silence that ensued didn't feel as awkward as before. It was more relaxed, and that was indeed a good sign.

"Y-you're rather… considerate…" She quickly hid behind her drink, taking a sip of the smoothie.

Just to mess with her a bit. "You sound surprised. What were you expecting?"

Sure enough, she blushed and hastily put down the glass. "I-I'm s-sorry! I d-d-didn't mean t-to of-fend you! It's j-just…!"

He smirked. "Relax, I was kidding."

"Oh…" She poked her index fingers together in a sheepish manner. "Umm… I… th-"

Instrumental music sounded from the Hyuuga's bag. She jumped in her seat and quickly dug through the bag. "S-sorry, Uchiha-san… I need t-to take this… if you don't mind? It's my sister…"

He waved a hand. "Go ahead."

She pressed the button on her cell phone; a fluffy panda hung off the device. "Hanabi-chan why are you…" There was a long pause while she listened to her sister say some things. "Oh my… is it two forty-five already? I didn't even…"

It was entertaining to see her blush.

"Umm… umm…" She looked rather flustered, and she kept glancing over at him. "I'm kind of busy at the moment…"

Even if she kept her voice down, the corner she'd chosen to sit in was quiet, and he would be able to hear everything she said.

"I'm w-with someone right now…" She looked rather embarrassed. "I'm so sorry, Hanabi-chan! I completely…" She paused. "S-stop laughing! Just give me fifteen minutes and I'll be there… See you."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Something up?"

"Oh, um… I need to p-pick up my sister… I'm r-running late... I hope you don't mind? I'm really s-sorry about this…" She fiddled with her cell phone.

"It's fine." He waved over the waitress and asked for the bill. "I'll pay, don't worry about it," he said to Hinata before she could pull her wallet out.

"I-I couldn't, r-really! It's f-fine! I can… A-and w-we're n-not actually…"

"Just let me treat you for this week. We both have enough money to pay for it, so it's fine."

She still looked hesitant, but nodded slightly. "O-okay…"

The waitress returned, and he handed her some cash, telling her to keep the change (and she grinned at the large tip when she walked off).

"So… are you free tomorrow…?" he asked as they walked out of the café. He hoped there was at least a few hours a day where he could spend some time with her, or he wouldn't have enough time to 'convince' her in a week.

She came to a stop next to the signboard. "Umm… I'm free all d-day until five…?"

He paused. He quickly ran through typical 'date' places in his head. She probably liked animals, right? Most girls did (and Sakura claimed he didn't pay any attention to what she said). "Did you… want to go to the zoo?"

Hinata stared at him for a moment, as if she couldn't believe he wanted to go to the zoo (and he didn't; well, he didn't really care for the place but… hey, if she liked it, then whatever). "I… haven't b-been in a l-long t-time. That w-would be nice." She gave him a warm smile.

"Does eleven sound good?" He definitely needed to see more of that smile (preferably directed at him, of course).

"Eleven's f-fine. So… I'll m-meet you there at eleven?"

"Yeah."

"Okay…" She fidgeted with her cell phone again, playing with the black-and-white poofball of a panda. "Umm… c-can I h-have your n-number…?" Her gaze was fixed on the accessory, and she was so quiet that he'd only just heard her.

He blinked, surprised she'd asked before he had the chance to. "Sure."

They exchanged contact information.

"W-well… I should g-get going… Umm… I'll s-see you t-tomorrow, Uchiha-san." She bowed slightly.

"Yeah… see you tomorrow." He watched her walk away before she vanished around a corner and let out a sigh after. At least he hadn't screwed this up, and hopefully he wouldn't mess up tomorrow either.

Sasuke was in a relatively good mood as he headed back home. True, they didn't talk a lot, but starting slow was better than freaking her out. Besides, neither of them were talkative people. For him, this seemed more like her getting used to him (which really sounded like he was trying to tame some sort of animal; he inwardly winced). Though… she _did_ seem to relax a bit more after that one query…

He was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he failed to notice Suigetsu and Karin watching, mouths agape, from behind some potted palms.


End file.
